Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms

In this book Sherene Razack explores what happens when whites look at non-whites, and in particular at non-white women. Most studies examining this encounter between dominant and subordinate groups focus on how it occurs in films, books, and popular culture. In contrast, Razack addresses how non-white women are viewed, and how they must respond, in classrooms and courtrooms. Examining the discussion of equity issues in the classroom and immigration and sexual violence cases in the courtroom, she argues that non-white women must often present themselves as culturally different instead of oppressed. Seen as victims of their own oppressive culture who must be pitied and rescued by white men and women, non-white women cannot then be seen as subjects. This book makes clear why we must be wary of educational and legal strategies that begin with saving 'Other' women. It offers powerful arguments for why it is important to examine who are the saviours and who are the saved, and what we must do to disrupt these historical relations of power.

Politics & Social Sciences

RAZACK, Sherene

Social Sciences

University of Toronto Press

In this book Sherene Razack explores what happens when whites look at non-whites, and in particular at non-white women. Most studies examining this encounter between dominant and subordinate groups focus on how it occurs in films, books, and popular culture. In contrast, Razack addresses how non-white women are viewed, and how they must respond, in classrooms and courtrooms. Examining the discussion of equity issues in the classroom and immigration and sexual violence cases in the courtroom, she argues that non-white women must often present themselves as culturally different instead of oppressed. Seen as victims of their own oppressive culture who must be pitied and rescued by white men and women, non-white women cannot then be seen as subjects. This book makes clear why we must be wary of educational and legal strategies that begin with saving 'Other' women. It offers powerful arguments for why it is important to examine who are the saviours and who are the saved, and what we must do to disrupt these historical relations of power.

Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping, and the New Imperialism (Heritage)

Somalia. March 4, 1993. Two Somalis are shot in the back by Canadian peacekeepers, one fatally.
Barely two weeks later, sixteen-year-old Shidane Abukar Arone is tortured to death. Dozens of Canadian soldiers look on or know of the torture.
The first reports of what became known in Canada as the Somalia Affair challenged national claims to a special expertise in peacekeeping and to a society free of racism. Today, however, despite a national inquiry into the deployment of troops to Somalia, what most Canadians are likely to associate with peacekeeping is the nation's glorious role as peacekeeper to the world. Moments of peacekeeping violence are attributed to a few bad apples, bad generals, and a rogue regiment.
In Dark Threats and White Knights, Sherene H. Razack explores the racism implicit in the Somalia Affair and what it has to do with modern peacekeeping. Examining the records of military trials and the public inquiry, Razack weaves together two threads: that of the violence itself and what would drive men to commit such atrocities, and secondly, the ways in which peacekeeping violence is largely forgiven and ultimately forgotten. Race disappears from public memory and what is installed in its place is a story about an innocent, morally superior middle-power nation obliged to discipline and sort out barbaric third world nations. Modern peacekeeping, Razack concludes, maintains a colour line between a family of white nations constructed as civilized and a third world constructed as a dark threat, a world in which violence is not only condoned but seen as necessary.

History

Africa

Somalia. March 4, 1993. Two Somalis are shot in the back by Canadian peacekeepers, one fatally.
Barely two weeks later, sixteen-year-old Shidane Abukar Arone is tortured to death. Dozens of Canadian soldiers look on or know of the torture.
The first reports of what became known in Canada as the Somalia Affair challenged national claims to a special expertise in peacekeeping and to a society free of racism. Today, however, despite a national inquiry into the deployment of troops to Somalia, what most Canadians are likely to associate with peacekeeping is the nation's glorious role as peacekeeper to the world. Moments of peacekeeping violence are attributed to a few bad apples, bad generals, and a rogue regiment.
In Dark Threats and White Knights, Sherene H. Razack explores the racism implicit in the Somalia Affair and what it has to do with modern peacekeeping. Examining the records of military trials and the public inquiry, Razack weaves together two threads: that of the violence itself and what would drive men to commit such atrocities, and secondly, the ways in which peacekeeping violence is largely forgiven and ultimately forgotten. Race disappears from public memory and what is installed in its place is a story about an innocent, morally superior middle-power nation obliged to discipline and sort out barbaric third world nations. Modern peacekeeping, Razack concludes, maintains a colour line between a family of white nations constructed as civilized and a third world constructed as a dark threat, a world in which violence is not only condoned but seen as necessary.

Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics

Three stereotypical figures have come to represent the 'war on terror' - the 'dangerous' Muslim man, the 'imperilled' Muslim woman, and the 'civilized' European. Casting Out explores the use of these characterizations in the creation of the myth of the family of democratic Western nations obliged to use political, military, and legal force to defend itself against a menacing third world population. It argues that this myth is promoted to justify the expulsion of Muslims from the political community, a process that takes the form of stigmatization, surveillance, incarceration, torture, and bombing.In this timely and controversial work, Sherene H. Razack looks at contemporary legal and social responses to Muslims in the West and places them in historical context. She explains how 'race thinking,' a structure of thought that divides up the world between the deserving and undeserving according to racial descent, accustoms us to the idea that the suspension of rights for racialized groups is warranted in the interests of national security. She discusses many examples of the institution and implementation of exclusionary and coercive practices, including the mistreatment of security detainees, the regulation of Muslim populations in the name of protecting Muslim women, and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. She explores how the denial of a common bond between European people and those of different origins has given rise to the proliferation of literal and figurative 'camps,' places or bodies where liberties are suspended and the rule of law does not apply.Combining rich theoretical perspectives and extensive research, Casting Out makes a major contribution to contemporary debates on race and the 'war on terror' and their implications in areas such as law, politics, cultural studies, feminist and gender studies, and race relations.

University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division

Three stereotypical figures have come to represent the 'war on terror' - the 'dangerous' Muslim man, the 'imperilled' Muslim woman, and the 'civilized' European. Casting Out explores the use of these characterizations in the creation of the myth of the family of democratic Western nations obliged to use political, military, and legal force to defend itself against a menacing third world population. It argues that this myth is promoted to justify the expulsion of Muslims from the political community, a process that takes the form of stigmatization, surveillance, incarceration, torture, and bombing.
In this timely and controversial work, Sherene H. Razack looks at contemporary legal and social responses to Muslims in the West and places them in historical context. She explains how 'race thinking,' a structure of thought that divides up the world between the deserving and undeserving according to racial descent, accustoms us to the idea that the suspension of rights for racialized groups is warranted in the interests of national security. She discusses many examples of the institution and implementation of exclusionary and coercive practices, including the mistreatment of security detainees, the regulation of Muslim populations in the name of protecting Muslim women, and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. She explores how the denial of a common bond between European people and those of different origins has given rise to the proliferation of literal and figurative 'camps,' places or bodies where liberties are suspended and the rule of law does not apply.
Combining rich theoretical perspectives and extensive research, Casting Out makes a major contribution to contemporary debates on race and the 'war on terror' and their implications in areas such as law, politics, cultural studies, feminist and gender studies, and race relations.

In this penetrating analysis of women's rights before the law, Razack considers the history of LEAF and its work.

Canadian Feminism and the Law

Constitutional Law

Sumach Pr

No matter where in Canada they occur, inquiries and inquests into untimely Indigenous deaths in state custody often tell the same story. Repeating details of fatty livers, mental illness, alcoholic belligerence, and a mysterious incapacity to cope with modern life, the legal proceedings declare that there are no villains here, only inevitable casualties of Indigenous life.
But what about a sixty-seven-year-old man who dies in a hospital in police custody with a large, visible, purple boot print on his chest? Or a barely conscious, alcoholic older man, dropped off by police in a dark alley on a cold Vancouver night? Or Saskatoon’s infamous and lethal starlight tours, whose victims were left on the outskirts of town in sub-zero temperatures? How do we account for the repeated failure to care evident in so many cases of Indigenous deaths in custody?
In Dying from Improvement, Sherene H. Razack argues that, amidst systematic state violence against Indigenous people, inquiries and inquests serve to obscure the violence of ongoing settler colonialism under the guise of benevolent concern. They tell settler society that it is caring, compassionate, and engaged in improving the lives of Indigenous people – even as the incarceration rate of Indigenous men and women increases and the number of those who die in custody rises.
Razack’s powerful critique of the Canadian settler state and its legal system speaks to many of today’s most pressing issues of social justice: the treatment of Indigenous people, the unparalleled authority of the police and the justice system, and their systematic inhumanity towards those whose lives they perceive as insignificant.

Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody

LA CHASSE AUX MUSULMANS

Politics & Government

LUX CANADA

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by RAZACK, Sherene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by RAZACK, Sherene

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by RAZACK, Sherene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms

Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms

Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping, and the New Imperialism (Heritage)

Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping, and the New Imperialism (Heritage)

Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics

Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics

Canadian Feminism and the Law

Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody

Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody

LA CHASSE AUX MUSULMANS